Fossil Energy

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has a rich history of scientific research supporting the nation's exploration, production, and use of abundant, domestic fossil energy. We focus on research and development of materials and sensors for extreme environments; modeling and simulation of subsurfaces; and technologies for carbon capture, use, and storage.

Materials for Extreme Environments

Cutting-edge materials for use in boilers, turbines, and heat exchangers for ultra-supercritical steam and supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) power cycles and solid-oxide fuel cells

New alloys and coatings to enable safer, longer lasting, and more efficient power plant operation

Detailed analysis of novel materials to assist with certification before first use in power plants

Advanced manufacturing of new components for fossil energy production and use

Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage

Carbon capture, use, and storage is a strategy to stabilize the increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Recent breakthroughs at ORNL include the following.

Capturing CO2 from ambient air and binding it in crystal form using a novel, low-cost material and method for permanent storage

Directly converting CO to ethanol in a high-yield process using a nanotechnology-designed catalyst

Using tracers to study the transport of CO injected into the subsurface at the Cranfield site in Natchez, Mississippi-a unique, real-world test of CO2 storage

Modeling Subsurface Power Generation Applications

Researchers at ORNL and other organizations use our HPC resources to model their work for faster results.

Ramgen Power Systems testing of aerospace shock wave compression technology for gas compression systems such as CO2 compressors. Efficient compression of CO2 could significantly lower the high cost of carbon capture and storage.

Simulating the first coal plant with near-zero emissions. In a project for the National Energy Technology Laboratory, ORNL simulated clean coal technology that would result in a combined-cycle, coal-fueled power plant with near-zero emissions of nitrogen and mercury and that would trap most CO2. The modeling work helped avoid the cost of building expensive prototypes.

Virginia Tech used ORNL's Titan supercomputer to study subsurface multiphase flows, providing critical information needed to evaluate the efficacy of CO2 sequestration in a given location.

Research Highlights

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers in multiple disciplines recently paid a field visit to exploration and production company Pioneer Natural Resources as part of a new Technologist in Residence (TIR) program.

Reducing the energy and water that power plants require to convert heat to electricity could become easier with a novel heat exchanger designed and 3D printed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A research team achieved a 500 percent increase in thermal conductivity using a new...